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So recently I finally got the time to do a proper popstarter USB video. If you are not familiar with Popstarter, basically what it does is when you have the proper files, you can play your PS1 games via USB on the PS2 that is modded (can be modchip or FMCB) and the game compatibility is very high. See the video tutorial at the end of this post for exact process details. But in a nutshell, the process is as follows:

Extract Cue2Pops program into its own folder. Extract the GUI program and put that into the Cue2Pops root folder.

Get the PFS_WRAPS.BIN file from the WIP 05 zip file and extract that to the desktop.

Get the POPSTARTER.ELF file from the WIP 06 zip file and extract that to the desktop.

Format a USB thumb drive or external hard drive as FAT 32.

Create a “POPS” folder without quotes on the root of your FAT 32 usb device. Inside this “POPS” folder, put the PFS_WRAPS.BIN file in there. You also want another file called “POPS.PAK”. Use google to find it, or check out this boring link here.

Now find a PS1 game that is a .bin and .cue file extension. Run the CUE2Pops gui program, give it the input file of the .cue, and the output path should be your POPS folder on your usb device. Convert it over.

Now take the POPSTARTER.ELF file from the desktop, and put that into the root of your usb device (or in a folder), and name it like this without quotes “XX.nameofgame.elf”. For example, “XX.Marvel vs Capcom.elf”.

Now eject the hard drive, plug into the PS2. Turn it on, navigate to Ulaunchelf and then go to your MASS drive and run the .elf file for your game. If all done correctly, the game will load and you will have a good time! Enjoy!

Watch Dogs for PC was recently released, and since it is strictly a 64 bit game for Windows, you are going to have to do some extra work to get your PC USB game controller or a PS2 type controller to work properly with Watch Dogs. The basic outline of how this works is below. The download links are in the video description of the Youtube Video tutorial.

Download latest copy of x360ce.

Download the x64 binaries.

Extract x360ce into the Watch Dogs main directory. Run it and configure your controller.

The last few months I always get questions from gamers asking me why they are having problems with pairing their PS3 controller to their laptop or desktop even though they fulfill the 39 and 40 requirement on their bluetooth adapter.

I don’t know if this is the final answer, but I found out that if you use version v.0.6.00001, your chances of successfully pairing your PS3 controller through wireless to your computer is much easier.

If you use newer copies of motioninjoy, it just may not work at all from a bluetooth pairing standpoint.

To understand more about how to use USB or bluetooth dongles for connecting the PS3 to your computer, see my youtube video below.

Do you have a spare Playstation 1 or Playstation 2 controller? Did you ever wish you could connect it to your PC to play your Emulator or possibly PC games?

How is it done? Easy! You have to go and purchase a Playstation to PC adapter, and these adapters are fairly cheap, especially if you go online. I bought mine from Amazon before X-mas last year, and after shipping the total was under $5 USD!

How it works is you connect the Playstation controllers to the adapter (1 or 2), and then you connect the USB to the PC. No driver download required! The one I got works great on XP and Windows 7.

Watch the video tutorial below and see what you might have been missing.

Foreword: I was chatting with versatile1, the day before I started this tutorial and he spurred up this amazing thought of ‘PS2s being preferred over DIVx players’. Do you know that the PS2 costs $99, and do you also know that the DIVx players cost like about 40 – 50 Dollars ??.. So, the difference is just $50 of cash. But, the PS2, unlike any DIVx player, is a gaming console and the list of games might arguably exceed the 2,500 mark. And by buying a copy of Swap Magic, we could play backed up PS2 games. Bottom line ~~> That extra $50, was definitely worth it !!

Revisions: [12-23-09] Initial release.

[12-27-09] Added Versatile1’s ‘Free McBoot’ Video Tutorial.

[12-30-09] Added Versatile1’s SMS video Tutorial.

[1-25-2010] Added links to the latest version of ULE and added Versatile1’s DVD decrypter tutorial.

2-10-14: Fixed video link.

INTRODUCTION:

The PS2, being a legendary console, never lets you down when it comes to surprises. And the Simple Media System (SMS) is one such surprise.
The SMS media player is a PS2 application, which lets you play DIVx media files on the PS2. The SMS media player is equivalent, or maybe even superior to any ordinary DIVx player.

The SEGA genesis was a fourth generation gaming console, which became extremely popular all around the world in the early 90’s. This tutorial is about playing SEGA on your ps2 with an Emulator called PGEN, with the assistance of ULaunchELF.

Foreword: This is an excellent tutorial that shows that the PS2 can be exploited in a non-conventional way. Yes, there is a way to play SNES methods on the PS2, but I did not realize NES roms can be played as well! All props go to author ICE, and I take no credit for this tutorial. Expect more of these to come in the future. ~ Versatile

Revisions: 11-30-09: Initial release.

[Update 12/1/09] Made critical changes on the button map of the FCEU port, Added link for NES roms and added a NOTE at the end.
[Update 12/2/09] changed the complexity of the title and made it easy to understand the concept.

[Update 12/21/09] Edited the whole tutorial and made it simpler.

[1-25-2010] Added Versatile1’s FMCB and the DVD decrypter tutorials.

[1-28-2010] Linked to the latest version of FCEU and added 2 troubleshooting notes.

INTRODUCTION:

Nintendo 8 bit, also known as NES, is the mother of all consoles. Now, wouldn’t it be nice if we could play those old classics on the PS2 using an emulator ???. Well, you have come to the right place because this tutorial might help you.

Foreword: After a year and a half later, I have decided to re-write this guide, because honestly, it was not my own and it was presented very poorly. Remember, I do no support piracy. Use the USB method to play your games on the hard drive to help your PS2 laser last longer. The performance will vary, but that is up to you if you want to stick with it. Good luck! (6-13-09) ~Versatile

IMPORTANT NEWS (5-1-10): It seems that there are a lot of dishonest users on the Internet that are copying this guide without giving credit back to me, Versatile. Because of this, I will be looking to update all the pictures in this article to have a watermark. We have an active team scouring the net for those who have copied this article. If caught, we will be forced to take action against you. This is your warning. – Versatile

Revisions:

[Update: 1/15/08] I have gotten Viewtiful Joe 2 to copy to my hard drive, and I was able to boot off the hard drive and play it on the PS2. Now my laser will live longer! All help will be given in the comments as usual.

[Update 2/13/08] Added link to SKS Apps. Without that site, this tutorial is nothing. 🙂

[Update 7/13/08] Added 2 new youtube videos of my own!

[Update 11/25/08] I am so frickin sick of people asking why their game doesn’t work and all they see is a black screen. Is it because your game isn’t compatible? Check out this list below and stop whining, or use swap magic and ditch the whole USB hard drive all together. The USB 1.1 performance IS NOT WORTH IT in my eyes.

[Update 12-25-09] Fixed the instructions, I left some important notes out.

Note: USB advance is in last column. Everything else is for HDAloader.

[Update 12-26-09] Added new PS2 Slim USB Booting tutorials. Enjoy!

[Update 1-9-10] Added free mcboot video.

[Update 9-24-12] Removed old video tutorials.

[Update 9-25-12] Added new video tutorial.

[Update 12-6-12] Fixed video tutorials to be consistent.

Introduction

The PS2 is a great console. After 9+ years, it is still going strong. With the new $99 price point, more and more people are getting the PS2 to play old school PS2 games. What better way to preserve your games and your PS2 laser than playing off the USB interface? This guide is based off of Swap Magic implementation.

Wait, you can play games off the USB interface?

Yes, you can but it requires some work. Here are the PROs and Cons:

Pros

Uses USB 1.1 interface (slow but better than nothing).

Saves strain on PS2 laser because using USB interface for game playing.

Can have a list of selectable games in the USBExtreme interface.

Works on both fat and slim PS2.

Novelty factor is awesome!

Cons

Game compatibility is low.

Requires USB hard drive. Highly recommend USB drives that have their own power adapter.

Flash drives can work , but the performance is so horrible its not worth doing it.

Need to have third party tool to launch the “boot CD”. This can be done with modchip, swap magic, or exploited memory card.

DVD9 games (like God of War 2) are larger than 4.4 GB and will not work with USBExtreme.

What tools do I need to make this work?

Hardware/Software tool: You need to have at least one of the items below before we continue:

Modchip

Swap Magic

Exploited memory card (such as Free McBoot)

IMPORTANT: For this guide, I will be using Swap Magic 3.6 CD to boot the USBExtreme disc!

Blank Media:

1 CD-R (700MB is fine)

Note: I highly suggest swap magic if you are unwilling to mess with the other options. You can learn more about swap magic at this guide:

What should I use for the USB mass storage device?

USB 2.0 hard drive that uses its own power supply (for example, it requires power from the outlet).

A USB hard drive that is at least 10 gigs or larger is highly recommended. The average PS2 game size will vary from as low as 282 MB up to as high as 4483 MB or 4.483 GB.

Do not use laptop external hard drives which gets its power from the PS2 USB 1.1 port. It is not enough power.

You could use pen or usb flash drives, but performance will be horrible. The game will chug, and you will have ridiculously long load times, that is, if your game can load!

Note: I understand when going through this tutorial, you may see that your PS2 may not see your USB hard drive enclosure. If that is the case, please try a different USB hard drive. I have people verifying this may fix the issue.

Tutorial Begins here *drools*:

Extract the USB Advance zip file that you downloaded earlier into its own folder. You will see contents like the screenshot below:

Now double-click the USBAdvance-PC-Software. You will see two programs inside it: ul_format.exe and ul_install.exe. Extract these to your C:\. This will make more sense later.

Notice there is a .bin and a .cue file. The .cue file is 1KB, and the .bin file is 34 MB.

You need to burn the image file. Use Nero, PowerIso, Alcohol120%, ImgBurn, or any other type of CD burning software and burn this image file to your blank CD-R disc. Once the CD-R is burnt, label it and set that disc aside.

Now extract the other zip file called “USBExtreme_wininst” to its own folder. You will now have a program called USBExtreme.exe. A dedicated section to this program will be covered later in this tutorial.

Now go to preparing the USB hard drive step.

Preparing the USB hard drive:

Insert USB hard drive to your PC.

It is important that the USB hard drive is FAT32. If it is not, go to My Computer, right click the USB drive, and go to quick format for FAT32.

If your hard drive is FAT32, great. No need to format it again.

You can also launch the USBExtreme Software, go to the format tab, and tell it to format your USB drive as well as shown below:

Here the I: drive is my USB drive.

Note: If you want, but not required, you can use the ul_format.exe command to format your USB hard drive. This is how to use it:

Go to Start -> Run.

Type “cmd” and press enter.

Go to your C:\ root.

The command to use the program is “ul_format X format” where X is your USB hard drive.

Example: My USB hard drive is E:. I would type “ul_format E format”.

We are almost done. Let’s enable fast transfer speeds on your USB drive before we start copying games.

Enabling fast USB hard drive transfer speeds:

Go to My Computer->Properties->Hardware->Device Manager->Disk Drives->(external one here)->Properties->Policies->Optimize for performance. Speed varies from from 1MBps to about 10-15MBps, which is pretty fast! Also, do not forget to unplug the device the proper way (that is Unplug or eject hardware) when you remove the USB drive!

Installing games onto your USB hard drive:

This is pretty easy. We have two methods. Method one uses the “ul_install.exe” command, and method 2 uses the USBExtreme.exe windows software. Both programs do the same job, and the second program is easier to use for those who are novices. 🙂

Method 1: Using the command line

Insert your PS2 game into your computer’s DVD drive.

Go to Start -> Run.

Type “cmd” and press enter.

Navigate to your C:\> drive.

The command to use here is “ul_install SourceDrive TargetDrive GameName CD/DVD”.

Example:

I insert Viewtiful Joe PS2 game into my computer. To verify if your game is CD or DVD format, right click on the disc and go to properties. If the file size is less 700MB or less, then it is CD format. Anything else and it is DVD.

My DVD drive has letter H:\>. My USB drive is I:\>.

At the command prompt on my C:\> drive, I type “ul_install H I ViewtifulJoe DVD”. Press enter and it will start copying the game. See picture below:

Here it will copy the game from my DVD drive to my USB drive and prepare it in the special USB game playing format.

Method 2: Using the USBExtreme Windows Software

Launch the software. Insert your game. Configure the “Gamer Installer” window for your game and click start. It will start ripping the game.

Example:

My DVD drive is letter H. My USB drive is I. The name of my game is The Bouncer. The type of disc I am ripping from is DVD.

After you click Start, it will prompt you:

Click Yes, and then it will start ripping the game from DVD drive to the USB hard drive:

When the rip is done, you will see a screen like the one below:

Repeat the process over and over for additional games and you will get a list as shown below. When you load the USB drive from the PS2, this list will be selectable.

Finally you are done. Let’s play on the PS2!

Turn on PS2. Load your Swap Magic CD disc.

At the main Swap Magic screen, load your USB Advance CD-R that you burnt earlier.

Now you will be at the USBExtreme screen.

Connect USB hard drive to PS2. Turn it on, within a few seconds, you will see your game(s) show up on the screen. Highlight your desired game, press “X”, and within 7 seconds your game will load! Enjoy!

Troubleshooting

1) Make sure to make your USB hard drive partition a primary. I am not sure if it needs to be logical drive, but I made my drive a primary partition.